Yesterday was the last leg. We were staying right in the middle of Azay-le-Rideau at a comfortable hotel just near the château. But nothing about this wedding allowed us to stay in one place for more than a few hours.
First we had to take a pressie for our terrific hosts.
I vetoed Jan's idea of a box of Milk Tray and we stopped at a little patisserie in the middle of town that made scrumptious cakes and handmade chocolates. Madame appeared a little grumpy and slow to me, and at one point I thought that she was going to fall over. It was then I noted the little handwritten sign saying that they were going to close the next day for a couple of weeks.
Madame's mood hadn't improved much by the time she had wrapped the chocolates so in an attempt to improve Anglo French relations I wished her a pleasant holiday.
Well, her face lit up and she was instantly much more cheery and animated and she went on to tell me that she and her husband made the cakes and chocolates and that it had been a long season. I decided not to remind her that the sign in the window promised 'hand made everything' because we were, by this time, getting on so well.
Whilst my attempts at an entente cordial were good they weren't good enough to get anything off the huge price of the bloody expensive chocolates. It'll be Milk Tray next time!
The morning's drive was taking us for a long trip into the country for a 'hog roast.' I tend to take some of these predictions with a pinch of salt, especially when the information comes from my mate Bryan, but blow me down when we got there, there it was, a pig turning slowly over a wood fire. A pig that had turned a beautiful shade of brown and that looked delicious to even my jaded eye.
The 'chef' knew exactly what he was doing and had started the fire at 6.00 that morning. If I'd known about that I'd have sent Jan along to help. Excellent.
By the time you read this we'll be wending our way up past Le Mans and Rouen (pig to drive through-thank god for Tom Tom, why no bypass?) for a brief sojourn in Le Touquet before arriving home on Tuesday. A bientot mes braves.
Were the chocolates handed over intact or was there was missing - just wondered?
ReplyDeleteYou old charmer you. I'm ashamed to say that I never bought chocolates such as you describe in the whole time we were in France primarily because I was put off by the price.
ReplyDeleteI would had to have sold my body on the streets of Cognac. Change of 50p anyone?
Meant to say... I hear what you're saying about Rouen... a nightmare via that industrial road. We ended up using it as an overnight stop as Boris doesn't like going too far in the car. Quite removed from it's industrial look, the central area is wonderful with beautiful historical buildings, excellent shopping and some wonderful restaurants.
ReplyDeleteIvan, I shook 'em up so she would never miss one. Least I hope not.
ReplyDeleteCraig, we made it through but only with the help of SatNav otherwise we'd still be there. I thought the signage was poor until we got out the other side which was a bit late. Would love to have looked around so hopefully next time.
Just testing, I put IE 9 on the computer the other day and ever since then I have been unable to post any comments on here, I got the other half to post yesterday's comment on here for me from her laptop (hence the typo!).
ReplyDeleteIt also affected other things so I have reverted back to 8 now.
Sorry Alex, but it looks like we are back in business!
ReplyDeleteExcellent. Good to have you back. We've just got off the tunnel train and we're sitting in Maidstone services organising a visit to a very aged relative prior to heading north and civilisation!
ReplyDelete